


I'm boyish enough, right?

by troubledsouls



Series: ...right? [1]
Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: High School AU, I can't promise it's good, M/M, Mute!spencer, transgender AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-18 17:36:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 13,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4714556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troubledsouls/pseuds/troubledsouls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler Joseph is transgender. And for that, he gets bullied a lot.<br/>Enter Joshua Dun, the new student with a smile that Tyler loves and hates at the same time.<br/>Josh likes him, and Tyler has no idea why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Josh Is Very Friendly

**Author's Note:**

> please dont kill me

"Tess Joseph?"

Tyler winced, then slowly raised his hand to show he was present.

The teacher raised her eyebrows. "And what do you want me to call you?"

"Tyler." Tyler said, eyes on his desk. He dropped his hand into his lap.

"Alright, Tyler." She wrote something on a notepad and moved on to the next name.

Tyler let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Hopefully, the next teacher would do the same, and the next, and the next, and all of them, really.

But he knew that couldn't be the case.

\--

"Hey, Tyler!" Tyler looked towards the boy who was calling his name.

"Hi." Tyler said. The boy was slightly taller than him, with messy hair and a large smile. He couldn't help but stare.

"We share first period, I'm Josh." Josh smiled and pulled out his schedule. "Do we share any others?"

"Uh..." Tyler glanced at his schedule. "What you got next period?"

"Chemistry."

"Honors English."

"Damn, you must be good! I suck at English, you should help me!" Josh was still smiling. Tyler liked the way Josh's eyes scrunched up. He felt a flutter in his stomach and then decided to hate Josh with a burning passion. That would be hard.

"It's only the first day." Tyler said cautiously.

"I mean later. When it starts to suck." Josh laughed. "Gotta get to class. Talk to you if we share any others!" He waved as he ran off down the hall.

Tyler was frozen for a few seconds, then ran to his class, hoping his cheeks weren't red.

\--

Turns out, Tyler and Josh did share another class. The last one of the day, in fact.

"Dude!" Josh waved at Tyler as he walked into the class. Math. Tyler never was good at math.

"Hi." Tyler sat beside Josh. At least someone was trying to be his friend.

Josh smiled at Tyler. Tyler felt the flutter in his stomach again, and decided he still wanted to hate Josh. He always hated crushes.

"This is Brendon." The boy sitting on Josh's desk waved as Josh pointed to him.

"Yo, Tyler." Brendon smiled. "I don't think we've had any classes together before, but I've heard stuff about you."

Tylers stomach twisted. Not in the crush way, but in the _oh no what have you heard_ way.

"I don't think everyone should be so mean." Brendon grinned.

"Brendon, get off that desk!" The teacher chose that moment to walk in, and glared at Brendon. He quickly hopped off the desk.

"I've heard a lot about you, Brendon. I hope you're better than what everyone else says you are." The teacher glared at Brendon, then at the rest of the class. "My name is Mr. Adams. If everyone could go to the left side of the classroom, I'm going to seat you in alphabetical order."

"Joshua Dun." He said as soon as the class was where he had told them to be.

"Just Josh, thanks." Josh grinned as he sat in his seat.

Tyler could feel his nerves rise. He steeled himself not to make a move when his name was called.

"Tess Joseph?" Mr. Adams called.

Tyler started over to his seat.

"You're Tess?" Mr. Adams eyebrows seemed like they were trying to get beamed off his forehead.

"It's Tyler, thanks." Tyler sat down, stomach trying to tie itself in knots.

"That's your nickname?" Mr. Adams glanced down at his list again.

"It's my name." Tyler wanted to throw up.

"Well, Tess, girls just don't have boys names."

Tyler blinked quickly, trying not to cry.

"Hey, his name is Tyler if he says so." Tyler looked over to see Josh standing up. He wasn't smiling.

"Josh, I'd advise you to shut your mouth." Mr. Adams glared at him.

"He's right." Brendon stepped out of the crowd.

"You too, Brendon. I don't want anymore talking. Tess will just have to deal with it."

"He's transgender, ever heard of it?" Brendon snapped. 

"Detention, Brendon. I don't want to hear another word." Mr. Adams said coolly.

Tyler tried not to cry the rest of the class. 

\--

"Bro, I'm really sorry about Mr. Adams." Josh walked up behind Tyler as school let out. 

"It's fine." Tyler said quietly. 

"No, it's not fine." Josh sighed. "I'm inviting Jamie over, and Brendon once he gets out of detention. And Jamie might drag his older brother along. You can come too, if you like. Me and Jamie and maybe Gerard, that's Jamie's brother, are gonna walk to my house, and I've given Brendon my address."

"I'll ask my mom." Tyler stopped and took out his cell phone, typing out a quick text. He looked up at Josh after a moment. "I can."

"Alright!" Josh grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the halls to the front door.


	2. Jamie And Gerard Are Nerds (aka Nobody Else Really Accepts Mikey's Genderfluidity)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to Josh's house, because Josh is amazing at making friends. Also, Tyler is awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the fantastic way siblings!
> 
> I wrote this at eleven thirty at night while laughing with my friend about the words Pete and wentz said together

"Yo Josh!" Someone in a skirt and a v-neck with a little bit of stubble waved as Josh as he and Tyler exited school. 

"Jamie!" Josh dragged Tyler over. "This is Tyler. Tyler, this is Jamie. Sometimes Mikey."

"Genderfluidity for the win!" Jamie pumped a fist in the air. "I go by he/him pronouns. Tends to be easier."

Tyler nodded. "I'm Tyler."

Jamie smiled. "Gerard will be out in a minute. He's talking to a teacher, the nerd."

"You're good at making friends." Tyler looked up at Josh. 

Josh smiled, and Tylers stomach flipped. "What can I say? I'm charming."

"Yo!" Jamie yelled at the boy who had just exited the school. "Gee!"

"Yo!" He ran over. "Good to see you. These two your friends?"

"Josh is." Jamie elbowed Josh. "He brought Tyler."

"Tyler Joseph?" Gerard looked Tyler up and down, which made his stomach try to twist in new and interesting ways. "Not bad."

"Shut up." Jamie elbowed Gerard. 

"Uh, can we get going?" Tyler whispered. His chest was starting to hurt. "I need to, uh..."

"Binder?" Josh asked, suddenly concerned. "Dude, just say so. Let's go."

Jamie smiled at Tyler as they started walking. "Josh is cool."

"Brendon thinks he's cool, so he must be." Tyler shrugged. 

"I like you." Jamie said.

"Cool." Tyler suddenly felt awkward. 

"How many teachers have you had that refuse to call you Tyler?" Jamie asked after a few moment of silence. 

"Ever since u started using the name Tyler? Uh... 10."

"Ouch."

"How about you?"

"A lot, actually." Jamie rubbed his neck. "Sometimes I'm lucky and the first day is a Jamie day, so it's easier to explain. Of course, sometimes it's a Mikey day. Then u have to explain sometimes I'm Jamie, and a lot of people think I've got a split personality or something, or I've got a thing for crossdressing. I don't."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm pay with being called Mikey on a Jamie day, but you're Tyler. All the time. So it must be worse when they don't call you Tyler."

"Yeah." Tyler didn't feel like talking much, so he let Jamie do all the talking. 

Jamie decided to wander on about a lot of things before they got to Josh's house. 

\--

"Come on, my parents aren't home." Josh laughed as he ran up the stairs to his room, the other three following close behind. 

"Dude, what does that mean? Are we doing drugs? Because then Jamie's not allowed." Gerard said, walking into Josh's room and setting his bag on the floor.

"No, silly, no drugs." Josh shoved Gerard. 

Tyler shut the door behind him as he walked in. Jamie was aiding in Josh's quest to shove Gerard all the way around the room. 

"Stop!" Gerard gasped for breath, he was laughing so hard. 

"Uh, you got a bathroom?" Tyler asked awkwardly. 

"Yeah, just down the hall." Josh giggled. 

Tyler quickly slipped out of the room, down the hall, and into the bathroom. He shut and locked the door, then pulled his shirt off. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, then dug a bra out of his bag. 

His hands were shaking. 

He pulled off his binder a bit awkwardly (it was always awkward to get off) and then slipped the bra on. 

He put his shirt back on, stuffed the binder in his bag, and went back to Josh's room dragging his bag behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WENTZ  
> OF THE PETE VARIETY  
> (I'm sorry it's midnight)


	3. Tyler doesn't like being around people, but he likes laughing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler is insecure, and Josh is awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS 2:30 IN THE MORNING I SHOULDNT EVEN BE AWAKE  
> I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY MISTAKES
> 
> Hello it is having slept me and this should be okay

Tyler pushed open the door to Josh's room, resisting the urge to cover his chest.

"Yo." Gerard smiled and waved from where he was sitting on the bed beside Josh. Tyler shut the door and sat down, staring at the floor. 

"We should play a game." Jamie was sprawled out on the floor.

"Like what?" Josh said. He was watching Tyler. 

"Liiiiiiiike..." Jamie thought for a moment. "Truth or dare!"

"I'm always up for a game of truth or dare." Gerard smirked. 

"You always pick dare." Jamie retorted, pushing himself up into a sitting position. 

"I'm up for it too." Josh smiled. "How about you, Tyler?"

Tyler nodded. He didn't look up.

"Should we wait for Brendon?" Jamie asked. 

"Let's start without him." Gerard grinned. 

"Nothing leaves this room." Tyler said. 

All attention flicked to him. 

"No leaving the room for dares, no telling anyone else about anything said." Tyler said quietly. 

"Done." Josh smiled. If Tyler had been looking up, he would've hated it. 

"I'll go first." Gerard said. "Josh, truth or dare."

"Hmm... I'll go dare." Josh raised his eyebrows slightly at Gerard, daring him. 

"Do a backflip." Gerard smiled and crossed his arms. 

Josh grinned, and Tyler looked up in time to get that annoying crush flutter. 

"You challenged the wrong guy." Josh stood up on the bed, back to the rest of the room. "Move, Jamie."

Jamie scooted back against the wall. 

Josh smirked at Gerard, pushed off the bed in a jump, and did a perfect backflip. 

Tyler gaped as Josh landed on his feet. 

"Pretty cool, right?" Josh sat beside Gerard again. 

"Amazing." Gerard was smiling.

"Shut your mouth, Tyler." Jamie laughed. 

Tyler did. 

"Alright, Tyler, truth or dare." Josh smiled. 

"Uh... Truth." Tyler wanted so badly to cover his chest, but that would just bring more attention. 

"What is the strangest thing you've ever done?"

Tyler took a moment to process the question. "Uh... Strangest? Probably trying to get Zack to eat a caterpillar."

Jamie laughed. "Did it work?"

"No, my mom found out just before. It was sad." Tyler laughed a little. 

Josh was in hysterics. "Oh, oh man..."

"I actually did feed Jamie a spider once." Gerard smirked. 

Josh bent over, gasping for breath. 

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Josh is literally going to die and it's all your fault."

"Rude to blame it all on me. Tyler started it." Gerard pointed at Tyler, who put on an expression of fake surprise. 

"I think not!" He giggled, trying not to wince at how girlish it sounded. 

\--

"Hello peasants, it is I, Brendon Urie!" Brendon pushed open Josh's bedroom door with a flamboyant gesture, then stared. 

Josh pushed Gerard away and blushed hard. "It was a dare!"

"Jamie's dare!" Gerard added. 

"The almighty Gerard Way, brought down by kissing the peasant Josh Dun. Making out, actually. I saw tongue."

"I'm not gay!" Gerard protested. 

Tyler had a hand clamped over his mouth, trying not to giggle. 

"You may not be, but I think Josh is, because he's hard."

"Urie, I am going to punch the shit out of you." Josh growled, beginning to turn red. 

"Just calling it like I see it." Brendon shut the door and sat down. "Whose turn is it?"

"Gerard's." Josh glared at Jamie, legs awkwardly crossed to try and hide his crotch.

"Brendon, truth or dare." Gerard had his face perfectly composed into calm. 

"I'll take dare." Brendon smirked. 

"I'd say get Josh off, but in not that cruel."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Instead, you have to somersault around the room. Your head will hurt like hell afterwards."

"Dude, that's lame."

"Bet you can't even do one."

Tyler giggled, then stuffed his fist in his mouth. 

Brendon rolled his eyes. "You're so weird, Gerard."

"Can you not do one? It's like a flip, on the floor." Gerard smirked.

Brendon blushed slightly. "Shut up."

"So you have to get Josh off now."

"No."

"If Brendon doesn't want to, he doesn't." Josh said firmly. 

"Brendon could kiss Josh!" Jamie piped up.

"How about you Tyler. What should Brendon do?"

Tyler pulled his fist out of his mouth, giggling. "Make a fool of himself."

"Then getting Josh off is perfect, cause he's straight." Gerard smirked. 

"Am not." Brendon mumbled. 

"Oooh, who's your crush then?"

"Dallon."

Gerard started laughing. "A hot senior, huh?"

"I'm pretty sure Josh thinks you're a hot senior." Brendon snapped.

"Can we not discuss my sexuality right now?" Josh groaned.

"Right." Gerard laughed. "Okay, Brendon, I dare you to pretend that this pillow is Dallon and make out with it." He grabbed one of Josh's pillows and there it at Brendon.

"Gross." Josh rolled his eyes. 

Brendon sighed, then pressed the pillow to his face. 

Tyler giggled and covered his eyes.

"Gross!" Jamie giggled. Brendon threw the pillow at Gerard. 

"Brendon, go." Josh smiled. 

"Jamie, truth or dare." Brendon glared at him. 

"Dare." Jamie smirked and leaned back. "Hit me with yo best shot."


	4. Josh And Tyler Are Pretty Gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler, on very, very, _very_ rare occasions is kinda glad he doesn't have a dick.

"Best shot? I've got some pretty good ones, you sure?" Brendon smirked.

"Come on, bro." Jamie made a _come at me_ gesture.

"Take off your shirt." Brendon said.

"Lame." Jamie rolled his eyes, but his hands were fidgeting with the hem of his skirt.

"You don't have to." Gerard cut in.

"Bro, I can always take a dare." Jaime laughed. He pulled off his shirt with a smirk and threw it and Brendon. "Josh, truth or dare."

Tyler desperately tried not to stare at Jamie. He could feel a blush creeping into his cheeks. 

"Truth." Josh smiled and leaned back on his hands. 

"On a scale of one to seven, how gay are you?"

"Ten."

"That's off the scale."

"Exactly."

Brendon rolled his eyes. "Rude."

"Just because you're a solid six doesn't mean you have to be mean." Josh retorted. 

"Considering he had an obsessive crush on Jon before he moved, I'd definitely say six." Jamie giggled. 

Tyler failed at not staring at Jamie.

"It was not obsessive!" Brendon protested.

"Uh, yeah, it was." Jamie said. "Hey, why'd you get detention?"

Tylers eyes flicked from Jamie to the floor. He was definitely blushing now. 

"Mr. Adams was being rude to Tyler." Brendon sneered. 

"Oh, that prick." Jamie sighed. "Called me Mikey every day. Made a point of doing it, actually, on Jamie days. Other teachers just called me Mikey when they had to, he would purposefully say 'hello, Mikey, how ya doing Mikey,'. Made me want to punch his brains out."

"He kept calling Tyler Tess, which isn't his name." Josh said. "And it's not like a nickname at all, which is what Mr. Adams made it like."

Tyler smiled slightly.

"Dude, Mr. Adams isn't even a good teacher anyways." Gerard said. 

"Can we continue?" Josh said. "I'm getting angry."

"Yeah, it's your turn." Brendon yawned slightly. 

"Okay, Tyler, truth or dare?" Josh smiled. 

"Truth." Tyler said. 

"Do you have a crush on Jamie?"

"Uh..."

"I'm taking that as a yes."

"Shut up."

"Oh, do you find all of this hot?" Jamie giggled while gesturing to his chest. 

Tyler covered his face with his hands. "I hate every single one of you."

"Come on, you gotta love me!" Jamie scooted over to Tyler and threw an arm across his shoulders. 

"Shut up."

"I have to admit, he is hot." Josh said. 

"No hitting on him!" Gerard pushed Josh off the bed.

"Josh, I'm home!" There was a voice from downstairs. 

"Oh shit." Josh's eyes widened. "Oh no no no."

"What?" Brendon whispered. 

"I have a bunch of boys in my room and she didn't know, she's gonna kill me!" Josh stood up. "Can you guys hide in the closet?"

"Yeah." Tyler stood up and pulled open the closet door, burrowing between the clothes to hide in the corner. Brendon hid in the same corner as Tyler. As Gerard closed the door, Tyler could hear Jamie pulling his shirt on. 

There was silence, except for Brendon's breathing right next to him. 

"So, how was your day?" Tyler heard Josh's mother as the room door opened. 

"It was fine." Josh said. 

"Make any friends?"

"A few."

"Find a girl you like?"

Josh sighed. "No, mom."

"You will someday, don't worry."

Tyler grabbed Brendon's hand, terrified. 

"Did you get everything, mom?"

"Oh! No, I didn't! I forgot all about the groceries!" Her voice receded. "Be back soon, Josh!"

After a few minutes, Josh pulled the closet open. "You guys should go."

"Your mom doesn't sound nice." Gerard said, pulling Jamie out. 

Tyler let go of Brendon's hand and pushed out, blushing. 

"She's can be." Josh sighed. "I'm lucky she's pretty forgetful."

"See ya tomorrow." Jamie said. 

"Maybe you guys can come to our house!" Gerard said. 

"Maybe." Josh said. "I'll lie and say it's a girl's house."

"Alright!" Brendon held his hand up for a high five. Josh slapped it hard. 

"Well, on a Jamie day it will be!" Jamie grinned. "Although tomorrow I feel like it might be Mikey, I've been Jamie for a few days."

"I'll try to come over too." Tyler smiled, arms crossed over his chest. 

"Good." Gerard said, being pulled by Jamie out the door. "Bye!"

"Bye." Josh smiled and pushed Brendon and Tyler out of his room.


	5. Tyler Meets The Lunch Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh drags Tyler to lunch.

Tyler shut the door to his room and smiled. Josh's house was pretty close to his, so he had gotten home quickly.

Okay, so maybe he had a crush on Jamie. And Josh.

Crushes, Tyler decided, were not fair.

His mom had waned to talk to him. Tyler didn't want to talk, but she was his mom, and he couldn't exactly say no.

He set his bag on the floor and flopped facedown onto his bed with a sigh.

His door opened a few minutes later. "Tyler?"

Tyler rolled onto his back. "Hi mom."

"How was your first day?" She sat on his bed. 

"Okay."

"Whose house did you go to?"

"Josh Dun's. He's new."

"It's good you're making friends."

"Brendon and Jamie and Gerard were there too. Josh met them over the summer when he moved here."

"The ways and Brendon Urie?"

"Yeah."

"Well... As long as you're careful around them."

"I will be."

"I love you." She gently kissed Tyler on the forehead. "I'll call you down for dinner, okay?"

"Okay."

\--

Josh decided to drag Tyler over to his table at lunch and sit him down in an empty seat. 

"Guys, meet Tyler!" He said enthusiastically. "This is Spencer, Pete, Patrick, and Andy. I'd introduce you to Joe, but he's absent, and Ray and Frank don't have the same lunch today."

Tyler was relieved that Gerard and Brendon were there, and it took him a second to recognize... Jamie? Mikey?

Mikey laughed at Tylers confusion. "It's a Mikey day, bro."

"Dude, what do you have for lunch?" Patrick was staring at Tyler with a stupid grin on his face.

"Knock it off, dude. It's rude to steal food when you have your own." Andy elbowed Patrick in the arm.

"Pete always feeds me his!"

"Dude, that's because you won't leave me alone unless I do!" Pete rolled his eyes. 

"I know you love me." Patrick hugged Pete, and that's when Tyler noticed that he was missing a _hand_. His left arm ended in a stump of skin. There wasn't even a prosthetic. Tyler couldn't help but stare. 

Patrick noticed. 

"Accident." He smiled and shrugged. "I'll tell you later."

"Don't worry, everyone's freaked out by the lack of hand." Brendon clapped Tyler on the back.

"Everyone's also freaked out by your scarily big forehead." Mikey mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich. 

"Hey!" Brendon reached across the table and hit Mikey in the arm. "Rude!"

The conversation continued like that, around and around. Tyler watched closely, eating and trying to figure out these people. 

He decided that they were cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so short I'm having some writers block
> 
> Also I'm gonna try and update this daily (I have thirty minutes until tomorrow on my timezone this is daily shush)


	6. House Meetings Are Fun, Especially When Everyone's There (except Joe)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lunch crowd meets up to go to the ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been working on something else whoops

The class after lunch contained Andy. 

Tyler liked him. He was rather quiet, but looked like he could beat someone up if he set his mind to it. He also had tattoos poking out from under his long sleeved shirt. 

Since they were sorted by alphabet, and there were no other people with h's or j's at the beginnings of their last names, Andy and Tyler sat together.

Honors English. Andy must've also been good. 

Tyler rested his face in his hand. English was boring until you got to the reading part, which seemed like never and was over too quickly.

Andy seemed to think so too. He was drumming his fingers on his desk in deep concentration, not paying the least bit of attention to the teacher. 

"Andrew!" The teacher whirled around from writing something on the whiteboard.

Andy looked up, startled. 

"Keep your fingers still, please, you're going to drive me insane."

Andy nodded and laced his fingers together, putting his hands in his lap. 

The teacher returned to writing. 

\--

"Yo, Ty!" Gerard waved Tyler over outside the school. "This is Ray." Gerard pointed at the kid beside him. 

Ray waved. Tyler waved back. 

"Tylers the new member of the lunch crowd." Gerard smiled. 

"Cool." Ray grinned. 

"We're all gathering today at my house. Except for Joe, because he's sick." Gerard waved at Spencer and Brendon as they walked out of the building and headed over to the three. 

"Is that what the group is called? The lunch crowd?" Tyler asked. 

"The only time we all meet together in school is at lunch, and even then a few of us are missing. We're cool, though, because Brendon's cool and I'm cool and everyone thinks Patrick is just the coolest."

"Is that because he's missing a hand?"

"Probably." Brendon said, resting a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "Sup, gee?"

"Can Josh come?" Gerard asked. 

"Yup. Him and Pete and Patrick will be out in a minute. Dunno about Mikey or Frank or Andy." Brendon smiled. 

"Also, you'll find Spencer not talking much. He's mute." Ray chimed. 

Spencer nodded and waved. 

"He and Brendon know sign language, so Brendon can translate and it's all good." Gerard smiled at Tyler. "Don't worry, we take some getting used to."

Tyler nodded. 

"Yo!" Mikey came out with a boy Tyler didn't recognize. 

"Yo!" Gerard yelled back. "Nice to see ya, Frank!"

Tyler vaguely remembered seeing Frank in one of his other classes. "Is he the one with too many vowels?"

Ray laughed. "If you put it that way..."

Pete and Patrick came next, and Tyler learned that Patrick's last name was Stump, so it was honestly hilarious that he had a stump. 

After Andy came, Tyler learned he had a tattoo of a dragon on his chest, and that he wasn't really allowed to show his tattoos at school. 

Josh was last, and Tyler learned Josh and Andy played drums. 

Gerard finally got them into a cohesive group, and they started the walk to his and Mikey's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again sorry it's short I swear the next chapter will be longer + fun at the ways house


	7. The Ways House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never Have I Ever.

Tyler really liked Gerard and Mikey's house.

It was a 1 floor house, technically a two floor if the basement counted. The above ground floor was cluttered. Tyler liked it, since his home was always clean and his mom made him keep his room clean. Tyler liked clutter. There was something comforting about it.

Gerard lead them downstairs to the basement.

Gerard and Mikey had their rooms in the basement, and basically the entire basement was theirs. Tyler looked around the room. There were a bunch of musical instruments in one corner, and a cluttered desk in another. There was a carpet in the middle of the room and everyone moved to sit down on it. Tyler sat nervously beside Josh.

"This meeting of The Lunch Crowd is now in session!" Gerard clapped his hands.

"Do we got a secretary?" Mikey giggled.

After a few seconds, Brendon said "Spencer says he can be it."

"Gerard, get paper!" Ray yelled.

Gerard rolled his eyes. "We do not need a secretary."

"Let's play a game!" Patrick said excitedly.

"Let's play never have I ever!" Frank yelled.

"What are we, a bunch of teenage girls?" Gerard rolled his eyes.

Tyler suddenly became very, very self conscious.

"Yes." Brendon elbowed Spencer, who glared and signed something angrily. "Oh, that's rude." Brendon elbowed him again.

"You're only saying that because Mikey has all the dirt on you." Pete laughed.

Tyler slipped his hands under his shirt. His binder had clips on the side and he slowly undid them, watching the group.

"Okay, how are we gonna keep points?" Patrick asked.

"Well, keep track of your fingers on one hand. Put down a finger every time you've done the thing said. I'd do ten, but we've got Patrick." Gerard smirked.

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Rude."

"So, when you run out of fingers, you're out. Last one left wins." Gerard said. "I don't know what the prize is."

"A hand, so Patrick better win." Andy said.

"I'm gonna kill you later." Patrick said.

"Okay. Mikey starts." Gerard pointed at his brother.

"Never have I ever... kissed a girl." Mikey grinned.

There were several groans.

"Rude." Gerard rolled his eyes. "Patrick, you go."

"Never have I ever gotten a tattoo." Patrick smirked at Pete.

"No fair!" Pete groaned.

Tyler was still at all five. So was Mikey.

"Ray, go." Patrick pointed at him.

"Uh, never have I ever kissed a boy."

"You got me down to two!" Pete whined.

"Too bad." Ray stuck his tongue out.

Tyler was now the only one with all five. 

"Go." Ray pointed at Josh. 

"Never have I ever had sex." Josh smirked. 

Pete and Patrick both immediately put down fingers. 

"Andy."

"Never have I ever failed a course."

"That's it, fuck you all." Pete threw his hands in the air and scooted out of the crowd. 

It continued, around and around, until finally only Tyler and Mikey were left. 

They were each down to one. 

It was Mikey's turn. 

"Never have I ever..." He thought for a moment. "Gotten any honors classes."

Tyler flipped him off before lowering all his fingers. 

"Mikey wins!" Gerard yelled, tackling him. 

"Spencer says he would've still been in if I hadn't cheated! Someone tell him that's not true!" Brendon whined. 

"It is true though. Da stoving yourself for Spencer. How rude." Frank tsked. 

"That was intense!" Patrick thrust his arms into the air. 

"Alright, this meeting of the Lunch Crowd is now over! Head back to yer houses or whatever." Gerard grinned. 

Everyone scrambled for their bags. Tyler hooked a couple hooks of his binder back together before standing up. 

"Ty, will you walk home with me?" Josh handed Tylers bag to him. 

"Okay." Tyler smiled up at Josh. 

He really hated Josh. In a friend kind of way.


	8. Everyone Stands Up For Tyler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello okay i'd just like to do this real quick  
> seniors: gerard, ray, andy, dallon, and pete  
> juniors: mikey/jamie, josh, tyler, brendon, spencer, frank, and joe  
> dallon is not in the lunch crowd now but ;) new characters soon

Tyler hated math more than anything. 

It was a week after Josh had walked him home, and Tyler had been doing okay with his classes, hanging out with the Lunch Crowd, but he was bad at and hated math.

Mostly, he hated Mr. Adams.

Spencer had been crying after school one day, and had explained that 'Brendon wasn't in math and I was trying to answer but the teacher didn't understand and yelled at me!'

Brendon seemed to always get in trouble just for existing.

Mikey was told to "take that damn skirt off" on Jamie days, once being forced to go to the office and waste time.

And Tyler was always called Tess.

Gerard told horror stories about Mr. Adams at the First Official Weekend Lunch Crowd meeting. It was dark and they were telling stories with flashlights, complete with _Frank bought snacks everyone take them!!!!!_

"So, it's about halfway through the year, and we're on a pretty tough unit, everyone is struggling, especially me." Gerard wiggled his fingers in a spooky way and smiled. He had ADD, which made concentrating harder than normal. "I ask for help for about the fourth time in the past two days, and he yells at me!"

"Man, I remember that." Pete sighed.

"He questioned me about my lack of hand." Patrick grumbled. "Then got mad when I couldn't pass papers back properly. I'm missing a hand! Give me a break! It was hard enough to get used to having one as it is."

"He's a dick." Ray piped up.

"He caught a glimpse of one of my tattoo sleeves and told me to get them removed." Andy growled. He was very sensitive about his tattoos.

"And he calls Tyler Tess." Josh said.

"That's too far!" Mikey yelled. "Let's punch him!"

"Spencer says no!" Brendon whined.

Tyler blushed and leaned on Josh. "It's not that big a deal."

"But Tess isn't your _name_!" Patrick protested.

"I'll be fine." Tyler insisted.

"Alright, new subject!" Gerard says. "Josh, when are you gonna ask out Tyler?"

Tyler covered his face with his hands. He hated Josh _and_ Gerard.

"How about now?" Josh grinned. "Tyler, wanna be my boyfriend?"

"Sure..." Tyler whispered.

"I ship it!" Pete said.

Tyler gave him the middle finger.

"Whoa!" Pete put his hands up in defense.

"Now we've got two couples!" Gerard laughed.

"Three." Frank whispered.

"I'm not dating you." Mikey said.

"Aww!"

"Shut up, Frank." Brendon said.

"I'm tired!" Ray rested his head in Pete's lap.

"That's my place!" Patrick whined, trying to shove Ray off and failing miserably.

Gerard laughed. "Alright, guys."

"I haven't told Tyler how I lost my hand yet!" Patrick suddenly straightened up.

"Oh, he comes up with a new story each time!" Mikey excitedly turned to Patrick.

"Well... It all happened a long time ago..." Patrick grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter will be the story


	9. Patrick Is Amazingly Creative

"Okay." Patrick started, grinning. "I was ten years old, and me and my family were going on a trip to a jungle."

"Where?" Ray smirked. 

Patrick shushed him. "Anyways, I wandered away from them because I got distracted, and ended up getting lost in the jungle. Then I came upon a clearing, and decided to stay there."

Pete snorted.

"Oh, my god, shut up." Patrick elbowed him. "So, anyways, it had been a couple days, and I decided to go hunt an animal. I wasn't a very smart kid."

"No kidding." Josh mumbled.

Patrick ignored him. "So I came across a jaguar and tried to attack it, and it cut my hand clean off! And that's the story."

"He actually lost it in a car accident when he was thirteen."

"Shut up, Gerard."

Tyler laughed. "Nice story."

Patrick beamed. "I know, right!"

Joe rolled his eyes. "Don't boost his ego."

"Rude!" Patrick yelled.

"Can we mess around on instruments?" Frank eyed the guitars in the corner.

"Let's start a band!" Mikey said. "I'll be a bass, Andy and Josh can be drums, and Tyler and Gee and Patrick and Brendon can sing!"

"Can we make a music video with an elaborate story of how I lost my hand?" Patrick asked.

"Several!" 

"What should we call the band?" Ray asked.

"Uh..."

"The Lunch Crowd!" Pete yelled.

Josh rolled his eyes. "If you say so."

"We'll be the biggest band ever!" Brendon said excitedly. "Spencer says he wants to play guitar!"

"Perfect. Ray, get paper, we're starting the world's biggest band!" Gerard said.

\--

Tyler scribbled down another answer on his homework, his mind buzzing. He would be a singer in a band, he could play piano, and he could rap too. Lyrics buzzed through his mind, but he had to finish homework before writing them down, before solidifying ideas flitting through his brain.

It'd be the perfect band.

Tyler sighed and jotted down the last answer, then stuffed the paper into a folder and dashed upstairs.

He sat down at his desk and pulled out a blank piece of paper and started writing.

_i ponder of something great_

_my lungs will fill and then deflate_

_they fill with fire exhale desire_

_i know it's dire, my time today_

Tyler stared at the paper. Where could he go with this? Nowhere. He crumpled up the paper and threw it at the wall. He grabbed another and started writing.

_i wish i found some better sounds no one's ever heard_

_i wish i had a better voice to sing some better words_

_i wish i found some chords in an order that is new_

_i wish i didn't have to rhyme every time i sang_

_i was told when i get older all my fears would shrink but now i'm insecure, and i care what people think_

_wish we could turn back time_

_to the good old days_

_when our mama sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out_

Tyler grinned and continued scribbling lyrics.

\--

It was midnight, and Tyler now had blank sheet music and was writing notes, glancing back at the song he had just written. _Stressed Out_ was messily written at the top of the page.

"Tyler honey?"

Tyler looked up. "Hi mom."

"Honey, you have school, tomorrow. It's time to sleep."

"Okay." Tyler rubbed his eyes and set his pencil down, crawling into his bed. He didn't fall asleep for a long time, thoughts whizzing around his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something bad happens next chapter im sorry


	10. Nobody Messes With One Of The Lunch Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Especially if it's Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is triggering so uh ye

"Hey, uh, guys?" Tyler walked up to the slowly forming crowd outside the school. 

"Yup?" Jamie smiled.

"I'm gonna go ahead, think by myself for a bit. I'll wait outside the house."

"Be careful."

Tyler smiled and started walking. 

He was halfway there when he heard talking behind him. He was on a narrow road, trees to one side. There wasn't a sidewalk, which always made him nervous. 

"Yo." Someone behind him said. 

Tyler stopped and turned around. "Hi."

"Tess." Someone else sneered. 

Tyler began to back away. 

"Dressing in boys clothes, calling yourself Tyler, who do you think you really are?" One of the group stepped forward and grabbed his shirt. 

"I-" Tyler couldn't force words out. 

He was shoved roughly off the road, hitting the ground hard. Someone ripped his backpack off.

"Gonna show you who you are, Tess." Two boys pinned his arms down. 

"No!" Tyler yelled, and a hand was pressed to his mouth. 

There were hands pulling his legs apart and Tyler screamed, sound severely muffled by the hand. 

Someone was undoing his pants and Tyler thrashed, legs and arms straining, head shaking side to side, hips bucking. It didn't do much. 

His pants and boxers were being pulled down and someone tsked. "Wearing boys clothes even underneath, Tess? What a shame."

A zipper was unzipped and then Tyler's world came undone. 

It _hurt_ , and he screamed and thrashed and tried to make him stop because it couldn't be real, it was just a dream, it couldn't be...

A hand reached up his shirt and grappled at his chest through his binder. 

Tyler began to sob. 

"Come on, Tess, sex isn't that bad. You'll love it, you'll realize you're just a girl, just relax..."

"Please no no no STOP!" Tyler yelled. 

"TYLER!"

The boy over him was ripped away seconds after Josh's scream. Whoever was holding down Tyler was gone, and Tyler pulled up his pants and underwear, shaking and sobbing. 

There was a scream a bit farther off. 

"Tyler Tyler Tyler..." Josh was taking Tyler into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Hey... I'm here..."

Tyler sobbed into Josh's chest. 

"ANDY DONT KILL HIM!"

"You're safe..." Josh rubbed Tyler's back gently.

"I don't want..." Tyler choked on his sobs. 

"I know..." Josh gently kissed Tyler on the forehead. "I know."

\--

Tyler was wrapped in a blanket with a mug of tea in his hands, sitting against the wall in the Ways basement with Josh's arm across his shoulders. 

Andy had come back shaking, fists bloody. He hadn't spoken at all, and he refused to wash his hands. 

Gerard was currently holding a meeting, but Tyler wasn't listening to any of it. He was leaning against Josh, sipping the tea Jamie had shoved into his hands a few minutes after they had gotten there, staying quiet. 

"Tyler?" Josh said quietly. 

Tyler didn't respond. He didn't want to open his mouth and start sobbing again. 

"I promise I'll keep you safe."

Tyler nodded, taking another sip of his tea. He decided to pay attention to the meeting. 

"Obviously, they're gonna go to someone for assault." Ray said. 

"Not unless they want us to say something. I suspect they'll keep quiet." Jamie said with a frown. 

"Suspect isn't positive." Gerard sighed. "Andy, you could've killed him!"

"He deserved it." Andy whispered. 

"Spencer would like to say that Andy totally should've killed him." Brendon said. He paused, staring at Spencer's hands as they moved. "His name is... Ryan."

And then Tyler had a name to the face and he bit his lip. It started to bleed. 

He tuned out the meeting and finished his tea. 

Josh was obviously paying attention, from the way he sometimes nodded, or frowned, or glanced at Tyler. 

_Ryan..._

Tyler fell asleep against Josh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry


	11. Many Ways To Say I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh comforts Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for scaring u all about ryro it's not actually him i just couldn't think of any name except ryan
> 
> don't worry i don't hate him that much

Josh glanced down at Tyler. His eyes were squeezed shut as he slept and he was making soft noises of distress. Josh considered waking him up, but decided that Tyler needed to sleep. 

Gerard sat beside Tyler and looked over at Josh. "What do we do?"

"Go to the police?" Josh suggested. 

"I dunno..." Gerard sighed. "I knew Ryan in passing, he wouldn't..."

"How well did Spencer know him?"

"Relatively well, but they had a falling out a couple years ago, along with the rest of Ryan's group. Ryro - that's what he said the other Ryan in the group was referred to - Ian, a couple others."

"Anyone else there he knew?"

"No."

Josh sighed, pulling Tyler closer. "I... I should've come out earlier, gone with him..."

"It's not your fault."

"Okay..."

Tyler's eyes snapped open and he gasped, trying to push Josh away and ended up falling into Gerard. He squeaked and pushed away from Gerard and fell on the floor, breathing hard.

"Tyler!" Josh gently laid a hand on his arm. "It's okay, you're okay..."

Tyler pulled himself up with Josh's arm and pressed his face into Josh's shoulder. "I don't want..."

"I know..." Josh wrapped his arms around Tyler. "But you're here, you're safe..."

"Josh..." Tyler started to cry quietly.

"I promise no one will ever hurt you again." Josh whispered.

Gerard stood up and walked over to Jamie, who was ignoring the rest of the room, headphones on and plugged into his amp, playing his bass.

"Don't wanna go home." Tyler mumbled.

"You don't have to. You can come home with me." Josh gently kissed Tyler on the forehead.

"Okay..." Tyler tried to stop crying.

Josh pulled the blanket tighter around Tyler.

The rest of the crowd was split up into rooms across the basement, a few glances thrown Tyler and Josh's way every once in a while. Andy wasn't there.

"You're safe with me, you'll always be." Josh shifted his position next to Tyler.

"Promise?" Tyler whispered.

"Promise."

\--

Tyler was asleep again.

They were the only ones still left. Gerard had advised that they stay, that he could set up a place for them. Josh had accepted, and hoped Tyler would be okay with it.

Jamie was still blocking out the rest of them. Gerard said that he blamed himself.

Gerard gestured for Josh to come into his room.

Josh gently rested Tyler on the ground as he got up.

"You guys can stay in my room." Gerard gestured to his bed.

Josh nodded. "Thank you..."

"You can stay tomorrow too, since it's Saturday. Me and Jamie have to work though, so you'll be alone."

"Okay."

"You'll be fine?"

"I'll be. Dunno about Tyler though."

"I hope he will be."

Josh nodded and stared at the floor before looking up. "Do you have a drum kit?"


	12. Beat To The Drums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Tyler are musical, so Tyler can keep his mind off things.

Tyler woke up with an extreme pain in his chest.

He quickly sat up and undid his binder, beginning to panic. He pulled his arms inside his shirt to completely get his binder off. 

His bag wasn't in the same room.

Tyler started screaming.

The drumming he had heard immediately stopped and Josh appeared in the room a few seconds later, drumsticks in his hands. "Tyler!"

"Josh it hurts!" Tyler began to sob, arms crossing his chest, covering it.

"Tyler, Tyler..." Josh gently wrapped his arms around Tyler.

"I was sleeping in my binder what if it's permanent!" Tyler began to hyperventilate.

"Tyler! Deep breaths, breathe with me, please." Josh gently took Tyler's face in his hands and made Tyler look at him. "You can do this..."

Tyler eventually matched his breaths to Josh's, in for three, hold for three, out for three.

"You'll be okay, I promise." Josh whispered.

Tyler nodded. Josh gently wiped away his tears before standing up.

"Were you drumming?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. Gerard says he got the kit so he could learn, but he wasn't that good, then Andy and Spencer started playing it so he decided not to sell it. They have a keyboard and a couple of guitars too, but Jamie's got the bass right now." Josh smiled.

Josh's smile made Tyler feel calmer.

Tyler accepted the hand up. "Are we still at the Ways?"

"Yeah. We're staying over. I dunno if their parents are okay with it, though." Josh frowned slightly.

"Don't frown, it doesn't look good on you."

Josh smiled slightly, then pulled Tyler out of the room and over to the instrument corner.

Jamie cast them a glance, eyes landing on Tyler for a few seconds, before yanking his gaze away.

"I wanna hear you play!" Josh smiled at Tyler as he pointed at the keyboard.

"I need sheet music to play." Tyler confessed. "Sorry."

"That's okay! You can hear me play, then!" Josh sat down behind the drum kit, sticks in hand.

Tyler stared at him as he played, probably looking a little creepy. But Josh played really well and Tyler liked it.

Josh smiled at him as he stopped ten minutes later, sweaty but looking like he had the time of his life.

Tyler clapped. "You're a good drummer."

"I'm sure you're a good piano player." Josh set the drumsticks down and walked over to sit beside Tyler.

Tyler shrugged. "I'm tired."

"Come on." Josh stood up and helped Tyler to his feet. "Gerard said we could take his room."

"Sleeping together?" Tyler asked, suddenly slightly afraid.

"I don't have to touch you."

"Okay."

"Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what even is a writing style lol


	13. Blame

Gerard tapped Jamie on the shoulder.

Jamie glanced at him, then went back to playing his bass.

"Jamie, please..."

"It's my fault." Jamie took off his headphones and stared at his bass. "I should've..."

"You couldn't have known, none of us could've. Tyler needs to be alone sometimes, we all know that, it's not your fault."

"I told him he could go!"

"Jamie..."

"I told him he could go and now he's traumatized forever and it's _all my fault!_ "

"It's not your fault..."

"I feel like it is."

Gerard gently hugged Jamie. "Come on, let's go to sleep. We'll need rest, we've got day-long shifts tomorrow."

"Okay." Jamie wrapped his arms around Gerard.

"Tyler and Josh took my bed, so we'll have to sleep together."

"Okay."

Gerard pulled Jamie to his feet and dragged him to his bedroom.

\--

Tyler woke up oddly comfortable, with Josh's back pressed up against his own. It was peaceful, Josh's quiet breathing behind him.

And then Tyler remembered.

He stuffed his fist in his mouth as he began to sob, not wanting to wake Josh up, not wanting to disturb him.

Josh didn't need to be disturbed by him.

Josh woke up anyway, turning over and wrapping his arms around Tyler. "Hey..."

"Josh I-" Tyler was cut off by a sob.

"It's okay, you can just cry it out."

"I'm sorry Josh..."

"It's okay, I promise..."

Tyler eventually cried himself back to sleep, and Josh cradled him in his arms.

Tyler, Josh decided, needed all the protecting he could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is short it's leading up to something big i promise  
> also is anyone picking up on the way clues


	14. The Truth About The Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, being yourself makes people hate you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm no good at foreshadowing but I kinda did for this

Tyler and Josh stayed in bed almost all day. Gerard had left food instructions on the fridge, saying they could stay all weekend if needed. Tyler's mom had said okay. Josh hadn't asked. 

They were sitting on Gerard's bed, eating cereal for lunch. Tyler hadn't spoken at all and Josh had only minimally.

Josh smiled faintly at Tyler smiled back.

The silence was comfortable.

\--

Mikey stumbled into the house at 6:13 PM, tired from standing behind a counter all day. He hated being a cashier, but he couldn't get anything better.

He went downstairs, taking off his glasses and rubbing them on his shirt.

Gerard had said he had told Tyler and Josh via post it note that they could stay. Mikey poked his head into Gerard's room.

Tyler was strumming a ukulele and singing quietly, Josh sitting on the floor in front of him, captivated.

"Yo." Mikey smiled and waved. 

Tyler stopped mid-strum and blushed. "Hi..."

"Mikey." Mikey said. "Glad you guys were keeping busy."

"Are your parents okay with us being here?" Josh asked. 

Mikey's smile fell. "Uh... Yeah. Yeah."

"I haven't seen them..."

"They... They are."

"Mikey?" Tyler whispered. 

"It's Gerard's house, they don't have a say." Mikey snapped. 

Tyler cringed. 

"Sorry. It's just..." Mikey stared at the floor. "They don't understand. When I told them I was Jamie sometimes and other times Mikey, they didn't understand. They threw me out. And Gerard... Gerard bought this house. We're still paying it off, his grades are suffering because he works all the time, he's repeated so many grades..." Mikey wiped his eyes. "He's twenty-one and still struggling to finish high school and it's all my fault, and now..."

Josh got up and pulled Mikey into a tight hug. "It's not your fault for who you are."

Mikey nodded and stepped back after Josh let him go. "I feel so bad..."

"None of this is your fault." Tyler said, setting the ukulele down."

"Me and Gerard were a bit of musical prodigies, luckily our parents let us take the instruments over." Mikey smiled. 

"Let's go write songs!" Josh said. "With Tyler's singing and piano playing and my drums and your bass, we'll be perfect!"

"Who'll be guitar?"

"Gerard, when he gets back."

\--

Gerard walked into a full-on jam session. 

The thumping of Mikey's bass was echoing around the room, along with piano and drums and Tyler's voice. 

"I'm fairly local! I've been around!" Tyler stopped singing as soon as he saw Gerard. "Hi!"

"Wow, I don't wanna interrupt you guys." Gerard grinned. 

Mikey stilled the strings of his bass. "Yo."

Josh crashed a cymbal. "We're gonna be the best band ever!"

Gerard rolled his eyes. "Have you guys eaten?"

They all shook their heads. 

"Jesus guys, it's 8:30! We're going to Taco Bell."

"Woo hoo! Taco Bell!" Tyler pumped a fist in the air. 

"Come on!" Gerard started back up the stairs, followed by the other three."


	15. Don't Explode The Taco Bell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting people can be good or bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive never actually been to taco bell

The walk to Taco Bell wasn't that far, and the four were laughing and joking the entire way there. Tyler had run back to put on a binder, not wanting to go out in public without one.

"Okay, okay, so Patrick just walks into school, bandage around his left arm, and he's missing a hand and smiling and being as normal as he always is," Gerard clapped a hand on Josh's shoulder, laughing. "And everyone's just like 'shit, dude, how'd you lose your hand?' And so he spins this ridiculous tale, and everyone got a different version, and then he tells Pete the truth and now only our crowd knows it."

"It's great he can joke about it." Mikey giggled.

"Yup."

"Considering how when the car crashed, the metal sheered his hand almost clean off, cut down and make a little notch in the bone. They had to amputate."

"Did anyone else get hurt?" Josh asked.

"His dad was the only other person in the car, he got bruised up a bit." Mikey smiled slightly.

"Why doesn't he get a prosthetic?" Tyler asked.

"He finds it cooler."

\--

Josh had insisted on buying the food, and now they were sitting at a table and chatting in between bites.

Mikey in was in the middle of a long winded story involving Ray, a bass guitar, and a drumstick, when a couple walked up to the table. "Hello, Gerard."

Gerard looked up, laugh suddenly falling from his face. "Hi, mom."

"Have you gotten out of high school yet?"

"No, mom, but I'm a senior now."

"Good, don't want you wasting your life in there." She smiled.

"Who are your friends?" Mr. Way asked.

"Tyler and Josh." Gerard mumbled.

Mrs. Way glanced at Tyler chest, and her eyes narrowed.

Tyler flushed and stared at his food, knowing full well his binder didn't make him completely flat.

"Now, Mikey was telling this great story, so can you please go away?" Gerard said.

"Gerard, we haven't seen you in years! Let us say hello."

"You're not saying hi to Mikey."

"Hi, Mikey."

"Go away." Mikey grumbled.

"Is that any way to talk to your parents?"

"You're not my parents."

"Mikey!"

"It's the truth! You don't care!"

"Mikey..." Gerard said quietly.

"Can we leave?" Mikey's voice was tense with anger.

"Yeah. Mom, dad." Gerard nodded at them, standing up. "Come on, Tyler, Josh."

\--

Mikey punched a wall as soon as they got to the Ways.

He yelled afterwards.

"Mikey..." Gerard checked his brothers hand. "Nothing's broken."

"God, I hate them!" Mikey was full of rage.

"I know... Come on, you should sleep."

"Fine."

"Josh, can you take Tyler home?" Gerard glanced over at them.

Josh nodded. "Come on Tyler, let's grab our stuff."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story will have an ending eventually i'm sorry


	16. Meet Dallon and Ryro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The concert was amazing Brendon Urie actually exists and I got a really nice pic of dallon 
> 
> So in honor of me seeing panic! at the disco meet Dallon and Ryro

"So, uh, this is Dallon and this is Ryan, but everyone calls him Ryro." Brendon watched Spencer's hands as he spoke. "Can they sit with us?"

Pete looked them over, then glanced at Tyler. "Okay?"

Tyler nodded.

"Grab some chairs." Patrick waved his left arm at the two newcomers.

Ryro fell over in surprise.

"That's new." Jamie grinned.

Dallon pulled Ryro back to his feet. "Rude."

"Sorry, I just, you're missing a _hand!_ " Ryro stared at Patrick.

"Wanna hear how I lost it?" Patrick grinned.

"Not now." Josh groaned.

"Pull a chair over and sit down." Brendon said, smiling.

Dallon nodded. "Ryro?"

"Fine." Ryro grabbed a couple of chairs and dragged them over to the already-crowded table. "You owe me, Dal."

"Got it, George." Dallon sat down, beaming at the group.

"No." Ryro pushed him off the chair after setting his lunch down on the table.

Dallon picked himself up of the floor with a grin. "Fine."

Tyler was staring at Ryro. "You're also called Ryan?"

"My full name is George Ryan Ross The Third, but everyone calls me Ryan or Ryro. Mostly Ryro, since I hang out with the other Ryan a lot. Not anymore, though." Ryro glanced at Spencer, who made a quick motion. "You're Tyler?"

"Yeah."

"It's so rude when Spencer and Brendon and Ryro get into private conversations." Dallon was glaring at the three, who were making quick hand motions at each other.

"Sorry." Ryro blushed.

"You should teach us!" Joe grinned.

"Like that'll work." Frank rolled his eyes.

"Still!"

"Don't be rude." Dallon said, running a hand over his hair.

Pete looked at Dallon curiously. "You gonna eat something?"

Dallon smiled and shook his head. "Nope, I'm good."

Pete shrugged and went back to his food.

\--

"What was the point of that?" Tyler asked.

The Lunch Crowd was at the Ways, without Spencer or Brendon.

"I dunno, Brendon didn't explain." Gerard said. "I think Spencer came up with it."

Tyler leaned into Josh's side. "He's friends with..."

"I think Spencer told him."

Tyler's eyes widened. "I don't know him! He can't know that about me he can't he can't!"

"Tyler." Josh pulled Tyler closer. "It's okay..."

"It's not it's!" Tyler tightly wrapped his arms around Josh.

Josh gently ran a hand through Tyler's hair. "You'll be okay."

Tyler nodded.


	17. Fight Me For Who I Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone will always defend Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm starting to have trouble writing this plz comment ideas

"Now presenting Dallon!" Brendon shouted as soon as he sat down at the lunch table.

"Shut up, Beebo." Dallon punched Brendon in the arm as he sat down beside him.

"Don't call me that!"

"I will call you that."

"Beebo..." Gerard paused. "Nice. Hey Dallon, wanna join our crowd?"

"I got kicked out of mine, so why not?" Dallon shrugged.

Brendon turned from his food to stare. "Why?"

"I didn't have a defense for hanging out with you guys. Even though they totally want Beebo and Patrick in their crowd, they're less appreciative of Tyler and... Which one is it today?" 

"Jamie."

"Yeah. Also Andy."

"Why Andy?" Pete's head whipped around to stare.

"Openly gay." Andy shrugged.

"Rude for them to not like you because of that. So what about Ryro?"

"He said he was just following me." Dallon said.

"I can punch the shit out of them if you like!" Frank waved around his fork.

"You're gonna stab someone." Jamie grabbed Franks arm and forced it down.

"Yeah, Ryan!"

"It's rude to stab people..." Jamie paused. "But he deserves it."

Josh nodded. "Just don't let Tyler know until afterwards."

"Cross my heart and hope to die, stab Mark Hoppus in the eye!" Frank grinned.

"But you're stabbing Ryan in the eye!" Brendon complained.

"It's to prove I'll do it. If I don't I have to stab Mark Hoppus in the eye."

"I can picture the headlines now! 'Crazed fan in Blink-182 shirt stabs Mark Hoppus!'" Gerard said.

"In the eye." Jamie added. "It's very important that it's in the eye."

"Yeah!" Frank threw his fork at Gerard.

\--

"Josh?"

Josh ignored his mom. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Josh, honey, talk to me."

"Why?"

"You've been acting weird lately."

"So?"

She sat beside him on his bed. "I'm worried."

Josh turned away from her. "Fine."

"Have you found a girl you like yet?"

"No. But I found a boy."

"Josh..."

"His name is Tyler."

"Tyler Joseph?"

"Yeah. I like him a lot. He's cute and sweet and has the nicest voice and can play the piano."

"But... Her name isn't Tyler."

" _His name is **Tyler**._ " Josh growled.

"Honey..."

"Leave me alone."

His mom stood up with a sigh. "Well, at least you've found a girlfriend."

"Boyfriend." Josh said.

"If you insist."

"I do."

Josh waited until he was sure she was gone before letting himself curl up and cry.


	18. Knives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have another fic in my drafts and another i'm trying to update and i wanna start a soulmate au one bc i'm joshler t r a s h
> 
> also i wanna write about my ultimate otp but like no one else ships them and the only other person who writes for the ship hasn't in months plz help

"He's in the ER." Frank whispered into Tyler's ear as they passed in the hallway.

Tyler nodded, allowing himself a smile before going on to his next class.

\--

"Frank, if you get arrested I swear to god." Jamie groaned, sprawling dramatically across Frank's lap.

Frank smiled and blushed slightly. "He deserved it."

"I still think a knife to the dick is harsh."

"He deserved it!"

"I would wish a knife to the dick onto him, if we're being completely honest." Dallon piped up. 

They were at the Ways, the only one of the group missing being Josh. Dallon had been successfully integrated. 

"Plus, now I don't have to stab Mark Hoppus in the eye!" Frank grinned. 

"At least it wouldn't have been the throat, we need his beautiful voice." Tyler mused. 

"Beautiful, my ass."

"Joe, are you looking for a fight with everyone else in the room?"

"Andy agrees with me!"

"I will fight Andy!" Gerard tackled him.

The ensuing scuffle resulted in Gerard coming out with a black eye and Andy with several scratches on his arms.

"No more fighting!" Ray hauled Gerard away.

"He doesn't like Mark Hoppus!" Gerard protested.

"No fighting."

Andy smiled triumphantly and crossed his arms. "I won."

"That doesn't mean your opinion is a good one." Gerard growled.

"Gerard, Spencer says we must respect everyone else's opinion." Brendon said sweetly.

"Spencer can fuck off."

Brendon paused, staring at Spencer. "Spencer says you can cut your dick off and shove it up your ass!"

"Spencer!"

"I agree. That's extreme."

"Okay, children, shut the fuck off." Joe said.

"I am not a children!"

"Yes you are, Brendon."

"If anyone's a children, it's Jamie." Frank poked him.

"Children isn't even correct grammar!"

"Shut up, Tyler." Jamie said, sitting up.

\--

"Ryro invited us to a party." Brendon translated as soon as Spencer sat down at lunch.

"What?" Pete nearly spit out his food. "Seriously?"

"Apparently."

"Tell him he can fuck off." Jamie crossed his arms.

"Well, he invited me, Brendon, Dallon, Tyler, Josh, Patrick, and Jamie." Brendon translated from Spencer's quick movements.

"Hmm..." Jamie thought. "He can still fuck off."

"We should go." Josh said.

"You can't be serious."

"We can watch out for each other."

"If you say so..." Patrick sighed. "When is it?"

"Saturday."

"We'll be fine."


	19. I Will Come Back To Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But only for you...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So trigger warning
> 
> I'm sorry

"Tyler!"

Tyler turned to see Gerard running up to him. He seemed to be holding back tears. 

"What's wrong?"

"Josh, he..."

Tyler felt something stab at his heart. "Yeah...?"

"He's in the hospital, he, Tyler..." Gerard was having trouble getting words out. "He tried to..."

Tyler felt his stomach twist. He wanted to throw up. "No..."

"His mom sent something in our kik group chat, I know your phone can't download apps... Tyler i'm so sorry."

"I... Josh... Is he alright?"

"I don't know."

"I need to get to class."

"Okay. We'll be here."

"Yeah."

\--

Tyler didn't want to speak at the meeting at the Ways.

Everyone else seemed to understand.

Gerard's phone buzzed and he pulled it out, eyes scanning the screen.

"Josh is okay." He said, after a long moment of silence with all eyes on him.

"Thank god." Brendon breathed.

"He'll be out in a few days." Gerard looked up. "Just in time for the party."

"Good, because I wasn't gonna go without Josh." Tyler said quietly.

"How...?" Jamie started.

Gerard shook his head.

"Hey, remember how we said we'd start a band?" Patrick said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah..." Gerard raised his eyebrows.

"So, why don't the songwriters share stuff. Let's get going on that. Surprise Josh with a song."

Tyler suddenly grinned. "I have a song for him!"

\--

Spencer insisted on doing drums for the song, and Brendon insisted on piano. That left Tyler with the remaining parts, ukulele and vocals.

They were doing a makeshift recording on Patrick's Garageband app, the day before Josh was to get out of the hospital. A Friday.

Tyler coughed slightly, clenching his hands into fists, then splaying them out. He was nervous.

"You ready?" Gerard asked, smiling.

Tyler nodded.

Gerard tapped record.

1, 2, 3, 4.

Tyler began to sing.

" _Yeah yeah yeah!_ "

He smiled and silently tapped his fingers against his leg, waiting the right amount of time before continuing.

" _We don't believe what's on TV, because it's what we want to see, and what we want we know we can't believe, we have all learned to kill our dreams._ " Tyler glanced over at Gerard, who gave him a thumbs up.

" _I need to know, that when I fail, you'll still be here._ " Tyler's smile widened into a grin. " _Because if you stick around I'll sing you pretty sounds and we'll make money selling your hair!_ "


	20. Before You Go

Tyler answered his phone on the first ring. "Josh?"

"Tyler..." Josh's voice sounded tired, broken, defeated. "Tyler I..."

"Josh, it's okay, I promise."

"Tyler I was bleeding and I got so scared I'm such a coward..."

"You're not, I promise..."

"I fucked up and hurt you."

"But you're okay, and I'm okay."

There was a long pause before Josh spoke again. "Are you gonna go to the party?"

"Only if you are."

"I think I will." Another pause. "Gerard wants everyone to come to his house."

"See you there?"

"See you there."

\--

Tyler settled against Josh's side as soon as he got to the Ways, closing his eyes. "Hi."

"Hi." Josh said quietly. He had bandages around his wrists.

"I'm glad you're safe."

"Me too."

"So!" Gerard clapped his hands, bringing the attention to him. "Party."

"I have zero desire to go." Jamie said.

Patrick shrugged. "I'll go."

"You sure?" Brendon glanced over at him. "Me, Spencer, and Dallon are the only ones who need to go."

"I wanna go." Josh said.

Ray raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"I want you guys to text me every hour." Gerard said sternly.

"Spencer says you're not his mom."

"I know."

"Spencer says you're not his dad either."

Gerard grinned. "I'm his parental unit, and he needs to text me every hour."

Andy raised an eyebrow.

Gerard shrugged, still smiling. "So. When does it start?"

"Nine." Dallon said.

"Alright you guys, it's 6:30 now, let's do a plan!"

Josh groaned. "Not a plan."

"Shut up."


	21. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so cobra starship is a thing in my life now so hi gabe
> 
> I'm really sorry I didn't update this yesterday something happened

Josh and Tyler were holding each others hands tightly as Spencer lead them to the party.

Patrick was involved in an enthusiastic conversation with Brendon which involved failing his arms around as he talked, while Jamie and Dallon were talking quietly, probably the Ray story judging by how hard Dallon looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"We're here." Brendon said after Spencer paused in front of a lit-up house. Tyler could hear the thumping music from outside.

Tyler already knew he didn't like parties. He got the feeling he'd like this one less than usual.

Josh gave Tyler's hand a reassuring squeeze. "We'll be okay."

As soon as they got inside Tyler thought his head was going to burst.

The music was unbearably loud, and there were so many people...

Part of Tyler thought he'd suffocate from anxiety and a binder combined.

Josh stayed beside him as they migrated to a wall, hand linked. Tyler though he was going to burst. 

"Yo, Tess!"

Tyler flinched _hard_. He knew that voice.

Ryan.

The one who...

"His name isn't Tess." Josh growled, stepping protectively in front of Tyler. 

"I think you're both delusional."

"Fuck off."

"I'm Ryan, but I think Spencer told you that." Ryan shrugged. "Why don't we get some alcohol in Tess, then we can both do what we want? If she gets fucked good enough she'll get over this boy delusion."

Josh's fists were clinched to tightly his knuckles were white. "Leave us alone."

Ryan smirked. "See ya, Tess." He waved before walking away. 

Tyler's breath was coming in short huffs. His chest was too tight, he couldn't get air, he couldn't...

"Tyler." Josh's hands were on his shoulders, pulling his forward so their foreheads touched. "Baby boy, it's okay, we won't hurt you."

"J-Josh..." Tyler gasped. 

"Breathe, baby boy. Breathe with me. In for three, holding for three, out for three. You can do this, I know you can."

Tyler trusted Josh. 

\--

"Yo!" A drunk Brendon was being supported by Dallon. "Hey, hey, hey!"

"Shut up." Dallon gently knocked Brendon in the head. "Our parental unit Gerard way says to come home since it's almost midnight. We're having a giant sleepover which will be much more fun than this one."

"He's gonna flip when he sees nobody can talk to Spencer, who has been the only responsible one here." Josh rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, okay, me and Patrick have had a couple beers, Mikey is passed out somewhere, Brendon is about to die..." Dallon trailed off in a giggle. "Come on, let's get Mikey."

\--

Josh ended up having to carry an extremely distressed Mikey home, who kept mumbling about changing and repeating "no" over and over. Dallon's skinny frame was barely enough to support the stumbling Brendon, so Patrick had to help with that. 

"Please don't murder us, Gerard." Tyler whispered as they entered the house and went down into the basement.


	22. Gerard Is Fucking Pissed

"Jamie!" Gerard yelled, running up to Josh as soon as he entered.

"No... 'm Mikey..." Mikey mumbled.

"Oh god Mikey Mikey Mikey!" Gerard whirled to face Brendon, Dallon, and Patrick. "Anyone who had anything to drink, go sit down or... or..."

Spencer was frantically signing something.

"Who was at the party?" Frank asked, standing up.

"Can I set Mikey down?" Josh asked weakly.

"Yeah, yeah..." Gerard lead Josh to Mikey's room.

Tyler shuffled his feet, staring at the floor. "Ryan was there."

There was an immediate tenseness in the room.

"What did he do?" Andy growled.

"He... He said..." Tyler could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "He said that if I got fucked good I'd get over 'this boy delusion'."

Joe immediately got up and tackled Tyler in a hug.

"B r b, murdering someone." Pete said, standing up.

"Don't!" Tyler said, Joe letting go of him.

"Why not!"

"It's not worth it."

"Frank, I thought you stabbed him in the dick!"

"I didn't tell him why!" Frank whined. "He doesn't even know I did it!"

Ray sighed. "Idiot."

The doorbell rang.

Gerard ran out of Mikey's room and upstairs, grumbling about who it could be.

Tyler slowly followed, along with Pete.

"Uh, hola, soy... I mean, I'm Gabe. I talked to Mikey at the fiesta - I mean party, and he left something?" There was a kid none of them knew standing in the doorway, holding up a pair of glasses.

"How'd you find my house?" Gerard said coolly, taking the glasses.

"Ryro knew." Gabe said simply. "I should get back to the party, lo siento."

"No, it's okay. Thank you." Gerard smiled slightly.

"I should get back, people will worry." Gabe smiled. He was swaying slightly, obviously a bit drunk.

"Alright." Gerard nodded.

"See ya round, maybe." Gabe squinted. "You're Gerard?"

Gerard nodded. "See ya around, Gabe."

Gabe smiled, and Gerard shut the door.

Pete and Tyler quickly went back downstairs.

Josh was telling stories from the party with Brendon, who was giggling and flapping his arms around.

Dallon was smiling with his arms crossed, leaning back against the wall.

"And they had great snacks, Dallon did you have any?" Brendon bounced.

Dallon shook his head. "I don't eat." He said, then got the expression of someone who wished he could take back what he said.

"What does that mean?" Josh asked curiously.

Dallon shook his head again.

Spencer was sulking, signing things to himself.

Gerard went back to Mikey's room, looking very worried.

"I wanna sleep." Patrick whined, leaning against Pete.

Let's use each other as pillows!" Joe said, pushing Andy down and resting his head on Andy's stomach.

"I agree." Tyler said, repeating the action with Josh.

Someone turned the lights off, and everyone settled into piles of cuddling on the floor.

There were quiet snores and even breaths filling the room by the time Tyler went to sleep.


	23. To See Your Bared Soul, Without You Knowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might not update every day now sorry i'm just dealing with stuff

"Dal, my head hurts!" Brendon whined loudly, waking up basically everyone.

"Shut the fuck up, Beebo." Dallon groaned

"But it hurts!!"

"Shut the fuck up." Ray grumbled. "Some people are trying to sleep."

"It's 5 am, Brendon." Pete said, squinting at his phone screen. "God dammit."

Tyler's head was in Josh's lap. Josh was sitting up, bandages that had been on his wrists strewn to either side, entire body frozen with a finger tracing the red line over his left wrist, tears staining his cheeks.

Tyler thought he was the only one who could see.

But he didn't dare say anything.

\--

When it was a reasonable time to be awake (a.k.a. 10 am), Brendon was moaning about his hangover again.

"Don't drink so much next time." Gerard said sternly.

"Yes, mom." Brendon said, resting his head in Dallon's lap.

Mikey was sprawled across Frank, causing the latter to have a slight blush. They were all comfortably spread out across the basement, individual conversations starting up.

Josh's bandages were wrapped around his wrists again, and he was very quiet.

Tyler wanted to ask why, but he felt like it wouldn't be appropriate.

"I wanna play spin the bottle." Pete said.

"And if one of you don't wanna kiss, that person has to do a truth or dare!" Brendon added.

"Sounds good." Joe said, yawning.

"You got a bottle?" Dallon asked. 

"One sec, I'll grab a fuckton of cereal too." Gerard got up and stumbled upstairs. 

"Spencer likes cereal." Brendon said.

"Amazing." Andy said. 

"It's really hard to eat with one hand." Patrick said thoughtfully. 

"Are you still drunk?" Ray asked. 

"Most likely."

Gerard threw a box of cereal at Pete's head from the top of the stairs. 

It made contact, and since it was unopened, did not send cereal flying everywhere. 

"Dude!" Pete yelled. 

"Strike!" Gerard threw the bottle at Andy and hit him square in the back. 

Brendon laughed. "He's gonna kill you!"

"Nah." Andy threw the bottle back and missed. 

"Okay, circle up." Gerard said, grinning.

Once they were in a circle, Gerard passed around the cereal, then set the bottle in the center of the circle and spun it. 

It landed on Mikey. 

They both groaned at the same time. "No." Gerard said firmly. "And dare."

There was a pause, then movements from Spencer. 

"Spencer dares you to slap Mikey instead!" Brendon translated gleefully. 

Gerard crawled a few feet forward and slapped Mikey on the cheek.

Mikey let out a soft cry, hands rising to his face. "That was harder than it needed to be!"

Gerard shrugged with a grin. 

Mikey removed one hand to spin, landing on Pete.

Pete groaned. "If I have to."

Mikey crawled forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Pete's mouth, then sat back in his place. 

It continued around and around, never going to Tyler, until one of Josh's spins landed on him. 

Tyler glanced over (they were sitting right next to each other) and smiled slightly. "Lucky you, my first kiss."

"Let's make it memorable." Josh smiled, wrapping his arms around Tyler and gently bumping their noses together before kissing him. 

Tyler kissed him back for a couple seconds before pulling away, blushing madly. 

"Now all we need is a Mikey and Frank kiss!" Dallon laughed. 

"No." Frank said, blushing. 

Josh smiled at Tyler. "Was I good enough?"

Tyler nodded, feeling something he could only describe as glowing. 

Then someone threw cereal at his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants me to reveal why Spencer is mute


	24. Set Up Your Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is gonna end sometime so be prepared

Tyler looked over at where the cereal had come from and grinned. "Way to ruin the moment."

Pete put his hands up in defense. "It was Gerard!"

"Dude, that automatically puts the blame on you." Gerard shoved him gently. 

"Alright, it's my turn." Tyler grabbed the bottle and spun it. It stopped on Spencer. 

Spencer shook his head, then signed something. 

"Truth." Brendon translated. 

"Why are you mute?" Pete blurted out. "Like, were you born like that or?"

Spencer shuddered slightly, then began signing. 

"Before my mom and dad..." Brendon paused. "Split? Oh, divorced, okay. Before my mom and dad divorced, my dad hated me a lot. He used to hit me. One day, he..." Brendon paused, eyes widening. "He damaged my vocal chords one day when I was seven. My mom was so mad when she found out."

Tears were running down Spencer's cheeks. 

Dallon tackled him, hugging him tightly.

"Dude..." Pete whispered.

"Sign language isn't that bad. Plus, since I made friends with Brendon, who knows it, he just follows me around to translate." Brendon translated, smiling softly.

Spencer gently shoved away Dallon, then wiped his tears.

"Let's continue." Brendon said.

\--

"Remember that song we made?" Tyler blurted. They were just talking now as they sat in a circle, eating cereal. It was almost noon.

"Yeah!" Brendon yelled.

Patrick pulled out his phone and quickly opened the app, turning it up all the way.

"This is a song for Josh." Tyler said, blushing slightly.

Ray reached over and hit play.

Josh listened very quietly. The recording was far from professional quality, and Tyler resisted wincing at how high his voice was. His parents refused to let him take any kind of hormones, even though they let him have a binder and boy's clothes.

At the end, Josh hugged Tyler tightly. "That was amazing. You're amazing. Can I kiss you again?"

"Okay." Tyler said quietly.

Josh quickly kissed him on the lips and grinned. "So, when are we setting up Frank and Mikey?"

Mikey let out a high pitched squeak and fell over backwards.

"Come on, it's so obvious." Gerard said, crossing their arms (The gender neutral pronouns thing had come out when Gerard had to explain the whole parental unit thing after refusing to kiss Frank). "You two definitely like each other"

"No!" Frank sputtered.

"Maybe?" Mikey whispered from the floor.

"Shut up!" Frank blushed. "No!"

Pete shoved Frank towards Mikey. "Go. Kiss. Fuck."

"I don't want to fuck!" Frank's eyes went wide.

"Then kiss!" Joe laughed.

"I don't mind fucking." Mikey said.

"Then fuck your brother, because I'm not fucking you!"

"I am not fucking my brother!"

"I refuse to fuck Mikey." Gerard said.

"No incest." Dallon said sternly.

"Yeah! No incest!" Patrick said.

"Waycest." Pete whispered.

Josh rolled his eyes. "Frikey. Frank and Mikey. Perfect."

"Pete and Patrick are..." Brendon paused. "Peterick!"

"That's horrible. I love it." Pete said.

"Joshler!" Ray pointed at Josh and Tyler.

"Who else do we ship?"

"Petekey!"

"No."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plz comment on whether brencer or brallon  
> ryden is my notp so that will never happen  
> also why is it ryden brendons name isn't brenden why isn't it rydon


	25. Everybody But Ray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone chats about sexuality and gender.

The topic quickly strayed from shipping each other to gender and sexuality. 

"Okay, but I'm like, bi everything." Pete said, crossing his arms. "Tri bi."

"Oh really?" Patrick said. 

"Bigender, bisexual, biromantic! What more do you want!"

"I'm straight as a ruler. Sorry." Ray said with a small smile. 

"One of those bendy ones?" Brendon asked. 

"No, a non-bendy one."

"I'm pan." Andy said. 

"Ace aro." Joe shrugged. "I'd cuddle Andy, though."

"I'll take you up on that."

"Deal."

"I'm gay as heckie." Dallon whispered, sending everyone in the room into laughter.

"Heckie!" Brendon wheezed, lying on his back and gasping for air. 

"Shut up." Dallon whacked him.

"Okay, Pete, what's your genders?" Frank asked, also whacking Brendon. 

"Male and female!" Pete said proudly. 

"I'm homosexual biromantic." Patrick said. 

"That's so cool!" Mikey flopped into his lap. 

"I'm also 'gay as heckie', as Dallon put it." Josh grinned. 

"Spencer says he's also ace, but hes... What does that mean?" Brendon frowned. "Oh. Oh! Pan! Okay!"

"Ace club!" Mikey yelled. "We've got Joe, me, and Spencer, who else?"

Tyler raised his hand slowly. "Asexual biromantic. Also, trans, as you all know."

"I'm also in the ace club." Frank grinned.

"Okay, who here isn't cis?" Pete asked, raising his hand. 

Gerard, Mikey, and Tyler also raised theirs.

"Amazing! Is Ray the only straight one?"

"Yes!"

"Amazing!!"

"Oh no!" Ray pressed a hand to his chest. "I'm surrounded by the gays! I shall never recover!"

Frank burst out laughing and fell onto his back.

"We must contaminate!" Brendon tackled Ray.

Ray shrieked, pushing Brendon off him. "Gerard! Please save me! Oh wait, you're gay too! I'm doomed!"

"We're all doomed!" Joe gasped.

"Okay, knock it off." Patrick checked his phone. "It's, like, 11."

"When do peeps need to head home?" Mikey asked.

"My mom wants me home by noon." Josh said.

"So we'll be careful about the time." Dallon leaned forward and grinned. "Now, I have a question for someone here. Actually, a couple people."

All attention was on him.


	26. Poly Ships

"Brendon, Spencer," Dallon took a deep breath. "Wanna be my boyfriends?"

A moment of silence.

Spencer nodded enthusiastically, a smile splitting his face.

"Dude, you stole my question!" Brendon groaned.

"I'm taking that as a yes." Dallon said.

"It is, you idiot."

"We need to come up with a ship name." Pete said.

"Shut up." Frank elbowed him.

"Spencer says no, you don't." Brendon crossed his arms.

Pete pouted.

"Now everyone's dating someone else!" Mikey whined. "And I'm so alone!"

"Shut up, brother." Gerard said.

"I'll date you, Mikey." Frank said.

"Really?" Mikey squeaked.

"Sure."

"No." Gerard said sternly, laying a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"Why not?" Mikey looked up pleadingly at them.

"Because you are my smaller sibling and it is my duty to protect you."

"Gerard!"

"Dude, if you wanna date me first to prove that I'm okay, then go ahead." Frank said.

"Fine, you can date my brother." Gerard smiled and shoved Mikey at Frank.

"Not it's just me and you that are single." Ray laughed.

"And Andy and Joe aren't?"

"They've got a cuddle buddies thing going on. I'm counting that as dating."

"We should play a game!" Josh said.

"What kind of game?" Brendon leaned forward in interest.

"We should play just straight up truth or dare."

"That'll be fun!" Joe grinned. "Who goes first?"

"I nominate Patrick!" Pete lifted up Patrick's left arm.

"I denominate myself." Patrick jerked his arm out of Pete's grip and crossed it with his other one.

"Too late!" Josh grinned. "Truth or dare?"

Patrick sighed. "Truth."

"How okay are you with Pete's extreme bi-ness?"

"I think it's pretty cool."

"Yay!" Pete hugged Patrick. "Tribi!"

"I'm pretty sure there are, like, two more bi's in your classification." Patrick poked him in the ribs.

"Tribi sounds better!"

"Okay, children, chill out." Joe said. "Patrick, ask someone."

"Okay, uh, Tyler, truth or dare?" Patrick said after a quick glance around. 

"Dare." Tyler smirked. 

"Question first. Are you wearing your binder?"

"No." Tyler suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.

"Sorry." Patrick seemed to have sensed it. "I dare you to... Uh..."

"Can I help?"

"Shut up, Frank."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's the dare guys I got nothing


	27. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk man, I'm gonna end it because I'm running out of ideas for this  
> So. Ending. Enjoy.

**_8 years later..._ **

"And then the lion just rips my hand off!" Patrick said with a flail of his missing hand. 

The interviewer gasped, making Pete giggle and lie an arm across Patrick's shoulders. "Isn't he so brave."

Brendon snorted in laughter from the tangle of bodies on the floor that was him, Spencer, and Dallon. 

"Okay," Patrick admitted. "That's not the story."

"Then what is?" The interviewer asked. 

"It's lost to the sands of time." Gerard said from the floor, where they were being used as a pillow by Frank, Jamie, and Ray. 

Tyler giggled from where he was leaning against Josh. Pete, Patrick, Joe, and Andy had claimed the couch as their own, so everyone else was forced to the floor. 

"So, let's discuss your latest album, Blurryface. That was mostly Tyler's brainchild, correct?" The interviewer asked, glancing around the room. 

"Yeah!" Tyler sat up with a grin. "Brendon's vocals on the chorus of Doubt are honestly my favorite part. Also Josh's drumming during Lane Boy."

"What is Blurryface?"

"Oh no, don't get him started." Joe groaned, falling into Andy's lap dramatically. 

"Well..." Tyler grinned. 

"Okay, we don't have that long, and I assume that that answer is gonna be really long." The interviewer smiled. 

"It will be!" Jamie called out. 

"Aw." Tyler pouted. 

"Well, still on the subject of Tyler, I heard your recent surgery went well." The interviewer leaned forward. 

Tyler nodded. "It actually was a few months ago, but it hasn't gone public until now. I'm fully healed now." He smiled uncertainly. 

"Care to show us?" 

"Sure." Tyler awkwardly pulled his shirt off. There were scars on his chest, and he resisted the urge to cover them. "Ta da."

Josh hugged Tyler gently. 

"See? He's attractive." Jamie said, sitting up by pushing off Gerard. They groaned.

"I'd hit you if I could reach you." Tyler said. 

"Now, Dallon." The interviewer turned to him. Tyler saw him pale slightly. "They've just recently let you out of the hospital, correct?"

Dallon untangled himself from Spencer and Brendon. "Yeah..."

"What was that about?"

"I just passed out. They were worried."

"Do you know why?"

"Yeah."

"Care to tell us?"

"Not really." Dallon looked extremely uncomfortable. 

"Lay off him." Andy said sternly. 

"The fans have a right to know." The interviewer shot back. 

"It's his personal life." Frank sat up. 

"Well, some fans are amazing at powers of observation and have put two and two together." Brendon said, staring at Spencer's hands. 

Dallon laughed awkwardly. 

"I'm putting my shirt back on." Tyler said. 

"Don't." Josh mumbled. "You're perfect."

Tyler blushed at that. 

"Hey, I have something kinda important to ask." Pete said, standing up. 

"Oh?" The interviewer raised an eyebrow. 

"So, um, it's been like, ten years." Pete started, glancing at Patrick but keeping his eyes on the floor. "And you're really cool, and even though..." Pete pulled something out of his back pocket and dropped to one knee. "Patrick, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Patrick said, tacking Pete and hugging him tightly. 

"I mean, I know you don't have a left hand, so I'm pretty sure the right one will be just fine." Pete said, grinning. 

"You're an idiot." Patrick kissed him quickly. "I love you."

Pete pulled the ring out of the box and slid it on Patrick's ring finger. "I love you too, Pattycakes."

"Don't call me that."


End file.
